And Then God Created Teachers

And Then God Created Teachers “If a doctor makes a mistake a life is in danger, if an engineer makes a mistake a bridge/building is in danger but if a teacher makes a mistake the whole society is in danger. ” Anonymous When a teacher was being created the God had to work overtime. He was amazed at the kind of values and qualities which were required in the making. He sent his special envoys to find a person who has all the ingredients which were required to make a good teacher. He provided a long list of values and qualities to them.

The list included Patience, Compassion, Confidence, Mentorship, Vision, Maturity, Selfless service, Discipline, Punctuality, humility, leadership, knowledge, self motivation etc. The envoys went all over the universe and met many people but could hardly find person with all the ingredients. They observed that the qualities required for a good teacher were becoming extinct and had almost vanished from the society. Then they tried to find if some of them wanted to become a teacher and have some of the qualities so that the other qualities can be perpetuated or inculcated. The envoys were shocked to know that no one wanted to become a teacher.

Everyone wanted to pursue a career in Medicine, Engineering and all the other possible avenues in the universe except Teaching. They came back and reported the matter to God Almighty. He was puzzled by the idea of having a society without a teacher. Without teachers it was difficult for him to foresee the existence of mankind on earth. He was worried about the future of mankind without the Doctors, Engineers, Businessmen and politicians as all of them needed a teacher for their existence. Finally He decided to create special people (teachers) with all the ingredients required in the making of a good teacher.

It was an uphill task but for the welfare of the society and future of mankind in particular He went on with the project of creating good teachers. It took a long time to create a good teacher. He created few of them and sent them to the earth as His special envoys to nurture humans who can take up the profession of their choice. Their reward was not the materialistic things but the satisfaction which they derive when they saw their students growing into Doctors, Engineers, Businessmen and taking up other professions of their choice.

Thus good teachers are the special people sent to earth by the God Almighty and are rare to find. As it is rightly said in the following Doha/Shloka: “Guru Govind dou khade, kaake laagoon paye Balihari guru aapne, Govind diyo milaye. ” “Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnu, Gurur Devo Mahesh Varah. Guru Shakshat Para Brahma, Tasmai Shri Guruve Namah. ” The Doha/Shloka written above will remain mere words to be chanted on the occasion of Teacher’s Day until and unless we realize the importance of teachers.

The fact that today there is shortage of 13 lakh teachers in India reminds us of the lack of willingness and motivation among the youth to take up teaching as a profession. The only reason I see is that teaching is not considered a lucrative job in our country. As long as money is the main motivating factor it is not possible to motivate youth of today to take up a noble profession like teaching. Still we have time to wake up and do something about the situation otherwise all the lucrative jobs would become unachievable without the teachers. -Dedicated to all the teachers involved in the noble profession of Teaching SHALABH NIGAM